To wish upon a star
by MK26
Summary: People cling onto memories, even if it's after the end of the world. In these memories is a place called Paradise, where the fate of apocalypse never touched. And for those memories, some will do everything to remember it again. post-apocalytic AU
1. The travellers

**Note: This AU actually comes from one of my developing story plots with original characters. It's very much inspired by Ash on the windowsill by Reikah and Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations. The TRC crew might be out of character since I'm on a writer's block and to be truthful, I'm pretending to be capable of writing. There are quite an amount of changes to character details and backgrounds, and some of the important characters in TRC might not appear in this story, such as Mokona, unless I can fit them in. Another thing is that this Sakura is the clone Sakura, though she is not as naive but still a happy one. If you haven't been put off by now, please enjoy it and review if you have the time to spare.**

**P.s. Does anyone still read TRC fics?**

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The dust on the ground shifted with the wind as the two human figures cautiously treaded on the ground. There were dangers lying beneath these seemingly innocent plains, and everyone knew to not judge it by its cover. The wind around them was picking up speed, and she could almost feel the oncoming storm.

"Fai-san?" She sounded muffled with the mask over her mouth.

"Time to look for refuge. Beware of the dust, Sakura-chan." Her companion hummed cheerfully, as he tried to sweep his bangs away from his goggles. His hood had already slid off the top of his head, revealing his light blonde hair.

The girl nodded, her eyes darting around quickly, as she looked for a sign of any civilisation. Ever her good luck that could be depended on, she could see the flickering of lights not too far away. She nudged Fai and he patted her head gently, giving her praise to her effort.

Both of them started to make their ways towards the lights, while the wind around them turned from a gentle touch into an angry whip. Once they were closer, Sakura found out that the lights had belonged to a small base. Hopefully the residential survivors there were kind towards travellers; she knew a few that didn't take too kindly to them.

Just as they were about to reach the borders, Fai hastily pulled up his hood again and adjusted Sakura's cloak to make sure it won't accidentally slip off. She could understand gestures like these; their appearances might end up more trouble that they would want.

"Don't take off your goggles or hood until no one's around, okay?" And she nodded like the obedient child she would be. Though she wasn't very young, she was still much younger than Fai.

Just as Fai had turned around to face the front, a man stopped them in their tracks. He looked twice the size of Fai, and doesn't seem to be as friendly as the latter.

"Stop there. Announce yourselves."

"Good afternoon! We are travellers looking for a refuge to pass this storm." Fai spoke, as he was better with words than Sakura was.

"I want names." The guard demanded.

"I'm Fai and she's Sakura. Look, we don't want trouble, just a shelter for the day and we'll be gone." Fai pointed beside him. "Plus, she's just a kid. What harm can she do?"

The guard scanned both of them with his eyes, trying to discern if he was lying or not. Fai had looked thin, which to him meant fragile, and Sakura was small for her age, so the man was satisfied enough to let both of them go into the base.

"If you dare to do anything stupid here..." The man trailed off.

"Of course not!" Fai was about to give him a quick smile before remembering that he was wearing a mask. Instead, he gave a thumbs-up to the man and the guard watched their retreating backs with wary eyes.

"Well then, Sakura-chan, let's look for an inn." Fai skipped, but did not move too quickly so that she could catch up with him.

The base around them was like a town, and a busy one at that. There were ashes covering the streets, just like all the other bases. The buildings' colours had already faded away, leaving boring grey in return. Despite this, there were still some colours from the woven clothes that were hung outside to dry. The people around seemed to be not bothered by the two new presence and continued to work through their routines.

The inn was quickly found, as Sakura found out that the flickering lights she had seen earlier belonged to it. Pushing open the flimsy wooden door, she stepped into the new environment.

"Wow, it's _clean_." Even the taller companion agreed on her statement. Having a clean environment was a rare scene nowadays, as the land was constantly being covered in ashes and dirt blown by the winds.

"A room with two beds, please!" Fai chirped at the receptionist, who was a boy far too young in his standards to be working. Then again, Sakura was too young to be travelling on these dangerous lands. Fai took a look at the sign behind him, mentally counting the price before putting one gold shilling on the counter.

"Yes, sir. Here are your keys." The boy started, but Fai was already climbing up the old staircase with their bag. As such, Sakura had to take the keys from the boy, not at all frustrated at the man's actions.

Their hands slightly brushed, and even though she was wearing gloves, both of their faces turned red furiously. Although her goggles were one of the tinted types, she could notice his chestnut brown hair and eyes. And his blush, too.

"S-Sorry." He apologised, his hands stiffly by his sides now. Sakura could only shyly nod and kept her head down as she took rapid steps towards Fai, who seemed to be very amused at the interaction.

When they reached their room and had both taken off their protective gears, then she could see Fai's miserable attempt to hide his grin. If she could look at a mirror now, she was sure that the tip of her ears was bright red.

Luckily, there was no mirror in the room and Fai hadn't said anything else related to the interaction for the rest of the day but Sakura could still see the amusement in his eyes. Turning away from the delighted tall man, she tried to focus on the room instead.

Like the lobby, it was clean as the windows were tightly shut. The colours of the walls had long faded and there were barely visible cracks running across the ceiling. The room was small, and the beds were the only furniture present. The two beds were separated by a bedside table, the arrangement reminded Sakura of the luxurious hotels that were now overrun with rats.

"Oh look, we're out of water, Sakura-chan." Fai mumbled from somewhere behind her. "Can you give the water a hug?"

Fai had tried to keep his voice jokingly light, like it was not much of a big deal but Sakura knew he hated to ask her for favours like these, even if she was more than happy to do them.

"No problem, Fai-san." She took the black water bottle from his hands.

Opening the bottle, Sakura carefully touched the surface of the water with the tip of her fingers. The murky water immediately turned clear and she gave a small smile at the successful feat. Her eyes drooped tiredly and Fai hurriedly took the bottle away and held her in his arms. Her lips parted, about to apologise.

"Don't. I shouldn't have asked you. You did well, Sakura-chan." He was praising her again, and she could see the regret piling up in his eyes. Hazily hearing the bottle being closed and feeling herself lightly placed on the stiff bed, she tried to smile at him, to reassure him that she was fine.

Fai's reply was to tuck her in and said nothing.


	2. Princess

**Note: There are still people who reads TRC fics, yay! I apologise if there are any OOC-ness, I'm just pretending I can write. These two chapters feels very much like a prologue to me, the 'adventuring/travelling' will be soon. I think. I'm quite a slow writer, since I only write when it flows properly. This story is pretty Fai-centric, actually, but I try to keep it Sakura-POV as much as possible. I have no beta-reader or anything like that, so please correct me if you see any grammar or spelling error (this is UK english by the way). Please enjoy and review if you can.**

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Sakura knew she had slept through the entire morning because when she woke up, she saw the afternoon rays of sunlight peeking through the blinds. Fai was sitting up on his bed, staring blankly at the opposite wall. He must be in one of his thinking state again. They couldn't afford to buy papers or pencils, so he had kept all the information they had gathered in his mind. And that meant that he had to refresh his memory constantly in case he missed anything out.

"Good afternoon, Fai-san." She politely greeted, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Oh," Fai turned his head over as he just realized that she had woken up. "Good afternoon, Sakura-chan. Lunch?"

"We have enough for that?" They hadn't been working for quite some time after all. Usually Fai would leave her in the inn and went to look for part-time work himself, insisting that the 'princess' should be relaxed. He doesn't seem to be able to find any work these few days however.

"Yeah, and after that, we'll go ask around about Paradise." She nodded and moved off the bed. Fai too, got off the bed and arranged their blankets. He kindly reminded her to wear her gloves and cloak, and bring along her mask. With her quick movements, they were ready to have lunch downstairs.

Lunch was luxurious, to the surprise of Sakura. It had eggs and sausages, and even a bit of seasoning. Fai seemed to not mind these surprises and cleared away his plate of food with inhumane speed while Sakura ate more elegantly than he did.

Once they were at the lobby, Sakura looked around for the boy from yesterday. He left an impression in her mind and perhaps, she could find someone her age to talk to. Fai was also looking for the boy, although he was not up for small chats, he was looking for rumours about the Paradise.

"Hey!" Fai had found the receptionist, whose eyes seemed to look past Fai and at Sakura instead. Upon hearing Fai's voice, the boy turned his gaze to him instead.

"I'm Fai and you are..." He trailed off, signalling the boy to answer his question.

"Syaoran."

"And this is _Princess_ Sakura-chan," Fai gave a knowing smile at the blushing boy. Sakura nearly choked when she heard Fai added a 'princess' in front of her name. "If you're interested to know."

"R-Royalty?" Fai's grin grew wider and Syaoran felt like he was being tricked. "What c-can I help you with, Fai-san?"

"Have you ever heard of Paradise?"

"Oh, is it the city where the apocalypse never struck?"

"Yes, that one. Have you heard anything about it?" Fai questioned.

"No, but I know someone who might be able to give you a clue about Paradise. He'll be back by evening, I'll ask him to hang around the lobby for a while." Syaoran suggested. "Probably around four?"

Fai gave a smile as thanks and turned back to Sakura. He waved his right hand around the mouth area, and she put on then adjusted the mask to a comfortable position. Fai did the same and pulled their hoods lower to try to cover their fringe.

"Sakura-chan, it's been a while since we did some shopping. Shall we?" Sakura's face visibly brightened up, she was hoping to get some trinkets and such for quite some time, but those were extra expenses so she had never voiced it out loud to Fai. Despite her naivety, she's sensible enough to know that Fai was raising them both with the limited money. Nonetheless, he still was willing to spend the money on her, but never had Sakura seen him buying anything specifically for himself.

With both of them strolling down the streets, she found out that the inn was quite near the bazaar. There were many stalls, and like the other places of the small base, there were colours everywhere. There were lots of small ornaments and charms hanging in the stalls, most of them made from coloured glass.

They slowly walked across the stalls, taking their time to pause and look around the goods. Fai was more focused at the dried food section while Sakura was more concentrated at the souvenir section. The locals were surprisingly friendly, quite unlike the previous bases. Sakura had seemed to also befriend a few of the children and adults. Technically, in Fai's words, Sakura could even befriend an enemy. Not that she would have any enemies at all.

"Fai-san, look at this!" She chirped happily, her agile fingers fiddling with a glass charm. Fai twisted his head away from the stall he was looking at and towards Sakura's hands. It was a piece of feather-shaped sea glass, light pink in colour, and was wrapped in thin wire to prevent it from dropping. There was also a dusty coral-coloured ribbon to the charm, for tying around the neck as a necklace. It was quite a beauty, and no wonders that it caught the young girl's eyes.

"Do you like it, Sakura-chan?" Fai's hands were already rummaging through their sling bag for money.

"Does it look nice on me?" Sakura asked, raising the necklace to her neck for a demonstration. It did suit her very much, as it somewhat resembles her personality.

"Of course." Fai confirmed, and he turned towards the vendor. "How much for this?"

"It's fifty silver shillings." The woman replied, smiling at them both.

Fai's smile faltered for a quick moment before it came back on again, though Sakura could see that it was a bit strained now. She was about to tell him that she was fine without it before the vendor interrupted.

"But for this sweet girl here, I'll discount you. Is twenty five silver shillings okay for you?" Despite herself, Sakura's face turned into a hopeful one as she looked at Fai.

Fai vigorously nodded and proceeded to pay for the necklace. He went down on one knee and Sakura bowed her head to allow him easier access. He tied the ribbon into a dead knot and adjusted the charm into the correct position. Lightly patting on her head, he signalled to her that he was done.

"Look at that pretty princess now." Fai smiled widely, and Sakura blushed self-consciously. Although she had spent his hard earned money, he seemed to be smiling more genuinely than most of the other times. Sometimes, it puzzled her to no end.

"Oh no, it's almost four now." She exclaimed when they reached the town square, where a big clock tower was situated at.

"Oh no indeed." Fai mumbled, agreeing. "Well, my lady, may I?"

Sakura chuckled and Fai took her hand. Both of them ran right back the street they had just came from, and it struck Sakura that this was like when they were much younger. She felt carefree, as the wind blew on their faces while she laughed her way back. Fai too, seemed to be enjoying himself which made Sakura's heart brighten up even further.

They were luckily, back in time before the person they were supposed to meet was gone. Syaoran noticed them first and called out to them, the man in black he was talking to turned around.

"Hello, Fai-san. Hello, princess." Sakura blinked rapidly, staring at the gullible Syaoran while said person continued to introduce them. "This is Kurogane-san. Kurogane-san, this is Fai-san and the princess. Kurogane-san is the one I mentioned earlier, he can help you with your questions more than I can."

"Princess?" The taller man raised his eyebrows and took a better look the duo. He would have thought that being royalty meant that the two of them looked more... decent. Both of them had their hair blown all crazed, which were sticking up everywhere after the long run.

"That's um..." Sakura started.

"Mm, hello Kuro-tan!" Kurogane practically growled at Fai, who was smiling cheekily. "Oh, maybe Kuro-puu is better?"

"It's Kurogane, you blue-goggled freak." He insisted firmly, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"Anything, Kuro-rin!" Fai stuck out his tongue and ran down the hallway, putting himself as far away as possible from the fuming Kurogane who was waving his sword around, nearly whacking a few vases from their original spot.

"Fuc-" Fai crashed into the wall on his left and had nearly gotten himself struck by Kurogane's unsheathed sword. He steadied himself immediately and resumed his escape plan. "Uwah! Kuro-pii is so scary!"

Now that Fai had completely forgotten about their supposed mission, she smiled at Syaoran and intended to strike up a conversation before Fai remembers his goal and return here.

"Prin-"

"It's just Sakura, actually." She giggled softly and watched as Syaoran looked embarrassed again for the unknown time of the day.


End file.
